Uncle Dick’s Bead Slip slides out of distributors, goes consumer direct at half the price

Written by Tyler Benedict Feb 08, 2015 1:25 p.m. ET

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Uncle Dick’s bead slip, which uses childish humor and a slippery wax base to help you get stubborn tires over the hump and seated on your rim, is going consumer direct. The benefit? Besides a nice conversation starter on your workbench, it means the price is cut in half.

The 3oz tin will now retail for $10.99, down from $20.99 MSRP when it had to go through a distribution channel to get to your local shop. Founder Rich Travis found that most of his customers where at the shop level anyway, using it to speed up tire setup to maximize efficiency in the service bays.

Their brush kits, which make application easier, will see a similar price drop. Check our review here and their website here.

Tyler Benedict

11,206 articles

Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com. He has been writing about the latest bikes, components, and cycling technology for almost two decades. Prior to that, Tyler launched and built multiple sports nutrition brands and consumer goods companies, mostly as an excuse to travel to killer riding locations throughout North America.

Based in North Carolina, Tyler loves family adventure travel and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part to make his bikes faster and lighter.

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JTrain

9 years ago

Yea, that title is pretty disgusting.

Dick Durishin

9 years ago

I don’t get it. What’s the joke?

Rixter

9 years ago

Does that stuff work?

Rico

9 years ago

Woah 50% less without distributor? How much does it cost without a shop? If u just order online? Shops near me are horrible. Seems like a dead business model.

Richard Durishin

9 years ago

As a guy only called “Richard” by my mother when she is mad, or when I stalk the cube farm in Wilton, I don’t get the joke.

Dr Boom

9 years ago

I wonder if a can of auto paste wax would accomplish the same thing? And be a lot cheaper? Or some bee’s wax thinned with mineral oil to a nice paste?

Also wonder if it will become a problem if you try to run tubeless and it prevent the sealant from making a good seal once dry?

I like to support the small business owner if it’s a good product but I also like to tinker and make things so I’m not trying to shoot down the product.

Alistair

9 years ago

Im sorry you have bad experiences with local shops Rico, but they are far from a dying business model. Sorry guy :((((((

9 years ago

Stick with coconut oil…

Drew Diller

9 years ago

I thought the title was funny… but I’m pretty childish.

grog

9 years ago

$10 is still not cheap enough to make me use something that will leave a residue, instead of soapy water, which works great, & bubbles where you need to swish sealant, providing a handy visual aid, & costs almost nothing, unless you live off paper plates.

Andy

9 years ago

Dicks, beads, rims… If you don’t get it, consider yourself lucky 🙂

anonymous

9 years ago

Aren’t those brushes just a dozen-a-dollar acid brushes?

David French

9 years ago

@Rico… Also sorry you’ve had a bad time with shops around you. I’m not sure what it is you do for a living if you think that shops are a dead business model, but frankly we would ALL be better off if it was online shopping that was dead! As it is when people go for the lowest online price, you’re simply taking money from a hundreds who used to earn an OK living and putting it into the pockets of ten people earning $1million a year.

(Not quite the same with this as it’s gone direct and I doubt UD is making millions off this, but that’s the general point of online vs offline).